07 February 2025
Elon Musk, the Systemic Risk
Elon Musk seems to many in Europe to symbolize the dawn of a digital dystopia. I argue, however, that this view may be incorrect in several respects. With the Digital Services Act (DSA) and its new “systemic tools,” the EU has an opportunity to address the technological roots of Musk’s powerful position in the digital sphere. In this context, Musk (potentially) using his platform (or AI) to intentionally influence the access, distribution, and presentation of information is “merely” a manifestation of risks that are already inherent in the systemic position of certain digital services. Continue reading >>
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05 November 2024
Art. 21 DSA Has Come to Life
Art. 21 DSA is a new, unusual and interesting framework to settle disputes over online content moderation decisions. By now, the first four online dispute settlement bodies (ODS-bodies) have been certified, and most of them have already started taking cases. In this article, based on recent interviews with representatives from all certified bodies, I will explore how these very first ODS-bodies are set up and which very first experiences they have made. Continue reading >>10 September 2024
Brave New World
The exhilaration and enthusiasm which followed the passing of the Digital Services Act (DSA) is long over. No matter one’s perspective on the DSA, it seems clear that the party is over and the work begins. One of the perhaps oddest provisions of the DSA is Article 21. It calls for the creation of private quasi-courts that are supposed to adjudicate content moderation disputes. User Rights, based in Berlin, is one of the first organisations to assume this role. Continue reading >>
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03 September 2024
Auditing Platforms under the Digital Services Act
Taming the power of online platforms has become one of the central areas of the European Union's policy in the digital age. The DSA increases the accountability of very large online platforms and very large search engines by introducing an auditing system. The audit process as defined by the DSA risks producing counterproductive consequences for the European policy objectives. From a constitutional perspective, the outsourcing of competence and decision-making from public to private actors articulates a system of compliance and enforcement based on multiple centres of power. Continue reading >>
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14 August 2024
In the Shadows
Recent investigations by Netzpolitik and the German public service broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk into the company Datarade have shed light on a part of the digital economy that has so far operated mainly in the background: data trading. The key players in this sector are data brokers, whose business model is to trade in (non-)personal data. Data trading is a multi-billion-dollar component of the global digital economy and not a new phenomenon. This article outlines the legal implications of data trading in the context of the GDPR, the DSA and the AI Act. Continue reading >>
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14 August 2024
Schattenwirtschaft Datenhandel
Die Recherchen von Netzpolitik und dem Bayerischen Rundfunk zum Unternehmen Datarade haben einen Teil der Digitalwirtschaft in den Fokus gerückt, der bisher vor allem im Hintergrund operierte: Datenhandel. Zentrale Akteure sind Datenhändler:innen (sog. Data Brokers), deren Geschäftsmodell darin besteht mit (nicht-)/personenbezogenen Daten zu handeln. Ausgehend von dem was über die Praktiken vieler Data Broker bekannt ist, erscheint vieles was heute offenbar gängige Praxis ist schlicht rechtswidrig. Der Beitrag umreißt die rechtlichen Implikationen von Datenhandel im Hinblick auf die DSGVO, den DSA und die KI-VO. Continue reading >>
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03 June 2024
Soft law, hardcore?
Soft law offers the possibility of agile and flexible regulation that can adapt to dynamic digital developments. However, due to its non-binding nature, soft law is not considered to be very effective. With the Digital Services Act (DSA), however, the EU is taking an - at least from a legal dogmatic perspective - unconventional approach by combining hard and soft law in a unique way. The DSA itself is a legally binding EU regulation, but it provides for soft law instruments and even contains provisions for their legal enforcement. Although such regulatory techniques are well known in EU law, they at least call into question the public perception of the DSA as the ‘constitution of the internet’. How far-reaching can such a constitution be that outsources essential issues to (executive-initiated, privately set) soft law? Continue reading >>
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03 June 2024
Soft law, hardcore?
Soft Law bietet die Möglichkeit der agilen und flexiblen Regulierung, die sich gerade an die dynamische digitale Entwicklung anpassen kann. Allerdings gilt Soft Law durch seine unverbindliche Natur als wenig effektiv. Mit dem Digital Services Act (DSA) beschreitet die EU jedoch einen unkonventionellen Weg, indem sie Hard Law und Soft Law in – zumindest aus dogmatischer Perspektive – eigentümlicher Weise miteinander verbindet. Der DSA ist selbst eine rechtsverbindliche EU-Verordnung, welche jedoch Soft Law Instrumente vorsieht und sogar Vorschriften zu ihrer rechtlichen Durchsetzung enthält. Derlei Regelungstechniken sind im Unionsrecht zwar durchaus bekannt, doch stellen sie zumindest der öffentlichen Wahrnehmung des DSA als ‚Verfassung des Internets‘ in Frage. Wie weitreichend kann eine solche Verfassung sein, die wesentliche Fragen an (exekutiv initiiertes, privat gesetztes) Soft Law auslagert? Continue reading >>30 May 2024
Follow Me to Unregulated Waters!
In this article, I will demonstrate how some major platforms are failing to properly implement the Digital Service Act's (DSA) rules on notice and action mechanisms. In my view, many platforms are unduly nudging potential notice-senders to submit weak, largely unregulated Community Standards flags. At the same time, platforms are actively deterring users from submitting (strong) notices regulated under the DSA. Continue reading >>
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02 April 2024
Moderation Made in Europe
The EU’s Digital Services Act (DSA) has been fully applicable for a little more than a month now. The conditions are thus in place for the emergence of the out-of-court dispute settlement (ODS) ecosystem envisaged in Article 21 DSA, arguably the DSA’s most original contribution to securing digital platform users’ rights. In this post, we try to envision the shape such an ecosystem might take over the next few years in the key area of social media content moderation (SMCM). We argue that the DSA may create an adjudication system dominated by a few ODS providers backed by public-private partnerships and ready to work in concert with the complaint-handling mechanisms set up by the platforms themselves. Continue reading >>
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